GB’s Hudson-Smith wins historic 400m gold on home track – highlights & report

GB’s Hudson-Smith wins historic 400m gold on home trackFigure caption, Hudson-Smith wins gold on home turf in 400mByHarry PooleBBC Sport journalistPublished1 hour agoGreat Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith wrote his name in history as the joint-most decorated man of all-time at European Championships by claiming a dominant 400m gold on his childhood track in Birmingham.Storming down the home straight to rapturous cheers inside the stadium where he trained as a junior, and which now has a stand bearing his name, Hudson-Smith raced clear to complete a golden treble in the event following success in 2018 and 2022.Crossing the line in 44.17 seconds, the 31-year-old secured his eighth podium at the championships to equal French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre’s men’s record medal tally.Handling the weight of expectation on his shoulders, the local lad-turned-global star walked up into the north stand to place a hand on the banner displaying his name after delivering for his home crowd – more than two decades after he joined local club Birchfield Harriers at the age of nine.”Honestly, words can’t describe how much that meant to me,” Hudson-Smith told BBC Sport.”Nobody was going to beat me on this track. This is my home.”I know this track like the back of my hand. I have my stand. Now I’m going to go for Mayor of Birmingham and Wolverhampton!”I knew I was the best in the world. I knew that, on paper, I was a second faster than every single one of these guys. It was about me and the clock.”The team behind Hodgkinson’s golden rise and the hunt for a world record